Proclaiming intellectual authority through classification: The case of the Seven Epitomes
Journal
Knowledge Organization
Journal Volume
38
Journal Issue
1
Pages
25-42
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Abstract
The study investigates the main structure of the classification applied in the Seven Epitomes (Qilue), the first documented Chinese library catalog completed a few years before the Common Era. Based on a close examination of the partially extant text and structure of the catalog, other historical records and secondary sources, the authors identify two principal classification methods m the scheme being studied: dichotomy and ranking. It is theorized that the compiler of the catalog, Liu Xin, used ru classicism, or Confucianism, as the principle for guiding the construction of three sets of ranked dichotomies that manifested into the six main classes in the set sequence. As a result, he successfully achieved the chief goal he intended for the catalog-to proclaim classicism as the intellectual authority. This design made the catalog, and its numerous successors in imperial China for two thousand years, an effective aid for intellectual, political, and social control.
Type
journal article
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
Proclaiming Intellectual Authority through classification.pdf
Size
405.29 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):6278533d4625e36cf99ea35080abd73d